Femlins were created by LeRoy Neiman in 1955 when publisher/editor Hugh Hefner decided the Party Jokes page needed a visual element. The name is a portmanteau of "female" and "gremlin." They are portrayed as mischievous black and white female sprites, apparently ten to twelve inches tall, wearing only opera gloves, stockings and high heel shoes. They are usually drawn in two or three panel vignettes, interacting with various life-sized items such as shoes, jewelry, neckties and such.

Femlins have appeared on the Party Jokes page in every issue since their creation, and were featured on the magazine's cover numerous times, either as drawn by Neiman or in photographed tableaus of sculpted clay models.

Femlins have been featured on a variety of merchandise throughout the years, such as ashtrays, shotglasses, and coffee mugs. A set of four plaster statues, the tallest approximately 14" high, was advertised for sale in the back pages of Playboy in 1963. (Like the drawings on which they were based, these statues were not anatomically detailed.) Originally priced at US$7.50 apiece in 1963, a complete set of the four statuettes was auctioned off by Leland's auction house in June 2004 for US$7,904.80, according to a Google cache of the auction.

In 2004, Playboy produced a new, updated figurine of a Femlin sitting in a champagne glass. Though now out of production, these are extremely common, and should not be confused with the older figurines.